My body feels numb as I stare at him and for some reason, the more I look at him, Hunter’s disgusted face overlaps with Lucas’s.I wrap the thick blanket tighter around myself, this feeling of emptiness eating at me. Hunter, my betrothed didn’t want me. Lucas, my true mate, doesn’t want me.Then, who wants me?I open my mouth but nothing comes out. The grief inside me is so thick that I just sink deeper into myself.Finally, I say, softly, “I see.”Lucas just stares at me as a bitter laugh bubbles out of my throat, “Of course. Of course, you wouldn’t want me too. Why am I not surprised?”He frowns, “That’s not what I meant.”I shrug, forcing down my feelings, “Doesn’t matter. So what are you going to do to me now?”“What are you doing?” His lip curls in anger. “I can’t feel you anymore.”I just keep retreating into myself, noty wanting to deal with anything. It’s all so much for me – this constant rejection, being pushed out of my home, the silent bon
I freeze.“So, they think I’m dead?”Lucas takes his sweet time answering, “I’ve not reached out to that Alpha pup to tell him anything. Like I said, my hands were filled with you.”I stare at him, not knowing what to say. There are so many questions in my head that I don’t even know how to put them into words.Finally, I ask, “Are you doing something to me? I can’t feel – I feel oddly calm.”He picks up the dishes and walks over to the sink, “You were too upset and you began to block me out.”“Wait, what?” I turn to look at him, feeling a hint of uneasiness. “Are you controlling me?”The thought almost makes me nauseous and he finally turns around to face me, “No. As your mate, I can help calm you down when your emotions are too high.”I look down at my hands which are shaking and then curl them into fists, “What is going to happen now? What about my family? Hunter has cut me off. I can’t feel the Alpha bond. I-“The panic is setting in and this time the wav
Lucas narrows his eyes, “Calm down.”But I am calm, the numb silence inside of me like a still lake, “You were with Hunter. Why? You didn’t bring him-?”“No!” He growls, darting forward till he’s in my face. “Of course not! I had to go and give him an update.”My mouth is dry, “What did you say to him? Did you tell him I was -?”“No,” Lucas narrows his eyes. “I asked him what you did and he said you tried to harm a packmate, his intended.”“His intended?” I feel dizzy at his words. “Who is – He has another mate?”Lucas studies me, “He’s announced an intended mate. She has yet to shift.”Valerie.The realization makes me want to throw up and when I reel, Lucas grabs me by the waist, steadying me, “What’s-?”“Hunter decided on an another mate?” The grief is suffocating.“Why do you care?” Lucas’s eyes turn to slits.I meet his gaze, “Because he was my betrothed. She poisoned me, Valerie.”“You were the Alpha pup’s intended?” Lucas looks taken aback.
“Sarah!”My father wraps me in his arms when I throw myself at him, sobbing, “Dad!”His familiar scent wraps around me and my knees turn weak. But my strong, dependable father holds up my weight, “Baby. Sarah, are you hurt? Are you okay?”Then I find myself being yanked back, out of his hold, before I can respond and Lucas shoves me behind him, snarling fiercely.“Lucas?” At first my father sounds confused and then his voice holds traces of anger. “Let my daughter go! She didn’t do anything wrong!”“No, Dad. Lucas, let me talk to him!”But Lucas doesn’t seem to be listening to me and I feel his aggression within me, our bond turning hot with anger and possessiveness. “It’s my father!” I scream when I realize that he’s going to attack my dad. “You can’t!”I push him and when he turns to me with a snarl, his teeth bared in warning, I feel a hint of fear and my wolf suddenly whimpers in confusion and terror. It’s my reaction that has the wolf in Lucas’s eyes f
I had already suspected something along these lines from what Lucas had told me but to have it confirmed by my own father makes something hard form in my chest.So many things are starting to make sense, including how Hunter had not even given me a chance to explain. I have never heard of a pack mate being banished without even a trial. On the spot banishments or for those who have committed terrible crimes.I stare at my father, my lips moving but nothing coming out. Finally, I manage to say, “But why? What did I do to deserve this?”The two people who I was closest to, my best friends, plotted together to get rid of me. They planned out my death.My father’s face flickers, “It’s – There’s something I never told you. I simply didn’t think that you needed to know. Hunter’s father wanted to join our two families. He wanted you to be one of the Alpha pairs. When both you and Hunter were young, he pushed for the betrothal and later on, he made it a condition for Hunter becomin
“What?”I look towards Lucas who doesn’t look very surprised by this piece of news.“Why does Hunter want Lucas dead?” I demand, a sudden anger rising in me.My father gazes at me and then studies Lucas, “Because Lucas is the product of a true mate couple. He’s more powerful than Hunter. That’s why Hunter’s father made him the pack hunter. He never encouraged Lucas to be part of the pack in a more deeper context. Alphas can be challenged and Dawson, the previous Alpha, wanted his own son to inherit the position.”“He took me in when I was a teenager,” Lucas says. “I was young enough not to be considered a dangerous rouge so when he saw that I might be a threat to Hunter’s position, he couldn’t kill me so he made me into the pack hunter.”“I never agreed with that decision,” My father says, tightly. “You had just lost your entire pack.. It had just been a few months. You should have been taken in and given care and affection to assimilate you into the new pack. Instead, R
Hunter?My soul nearly leaves my body on hearing his name and I press my ear to the bedroom door, trying to listen to the conversation.“You should have some respect,” Hunter growls and it almost feels like I’m listening to a stranger talk.“Why?” Lucas says, mockingly.“Because I’m your Alpha.”“Barely so,” Lucas replies, lazily. “Now why are you here?”I don’t have to see Hunter’s face to know how angry Lucas’s response just have made him. One of Hunter’s biggest flaws is his ego. I remember even back then that he hated talking about Lucas whatsoever.I had never really thought much about it before but right now I can hear the intense dislike in Hunter’s voice. “I want to know if Tyron came to see you?” Hunter asks, his voice angry now.“Tyron?” Lucas pretends to be oblivious to my father’s name even as I flinch.“He’s one of the pack elders,” Hunter says. “Did he come to see you?”“Why would he come to see me?”“Because you executed his daughter.
“What?!”But Lucas is jumping down from he treehouse and I wrap my arms around his neck.When we get to the ground, he lets me get off and I look up at him, “What did you just say?”“It’s complicated,” Lucas says, his face shuttered.He begins to walk into the forest and I follow after him, “I have a right to know, Lucas. You’re my mate." He looks over his shoulder at me, "You're very quick to use the mate excuse when it’s convenient for you.”I catch up to him, "You know that's not what I'm trying to do. I just want to know a little bit more about you.”The journey to the archives is a five day one by foot so it’s not like we don’t have time. “My parents died when I was a teenager. They were the Alpha pair of the pack,” Lucas says, quietly, walking forward. I have to struggle to keep up with him.”“My father was a fair Alpha but there was some discontent in the pack. Some of the pack elders wanted my father to step down. One of them wanted to establish his o